DRIVING THE DAY: HJC TAKES UP USA FREEDOM — Welcome to Wednesday, where we’re getting set for House Judiciary lawmakers to stake their position on the panel leaders’ new version of the surveillance reform bill the USA Freedom Act. Whether lawmakers will agree to add back into the bill language allowing for more transparency on the part of tech companies was Tuesday’s big question, and as of early this morning, the committee hasn’t made public its plans on that issue. But for now, the wheels are in motion: The industry has been watching Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Suzan DelBene, two lawmakers who they felt might offer transparency-focused amendments at the markup. Lofgren said off the House floor last night she’d be offering an amendment on the issue, but didn’t detail its contents. Separately, a spokesperson for DelBene said the congresswoman certainly had talked to Chairman Bob Goodlatte about the matter. "There is activity happening to figure out a deal this evening," the aide said Tuesday night. "Unclear what the vehicle would be [at the markup], but we're not ruling out addressing it with an amendment." For now, we’re tracking ahead of the 1 p.m. markup.

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FIRST LOOK: COGENT CEO TO BLAST COMCAST DEAL — Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer will tell a House Judiciary panel tomorrow that the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal is “bad news for the cable industry,” according to his written testimony for the discussion. Cogent, one of the nation’s backbone ISPs, is already on record against the deal — but Schaeffer’s testimony Thursday could offer a more detailed window into its opposition. Specifically, Schaeffer’s testimony dives into Cogent’s peering experience with Comcast, where he argues that Comcast is more interested in getting paid than providing top-notch service to its customers. “Fundamentally, Comcast’s strategy is to get everyone to pay them, either through paid peering with content providers like Netflix, paid peering with backbone providers like Cogent, or both,” he writes. Link: http://bit.ly/1lWMnNq

—WHAT COMCAST WILL SAY: Comcast’s written testimony is largely the same as its offering to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. That does include a section on interconnection, where Comcast’s David Cohen and TWC’s Robert Marcus say in a joint statement that “the marketplace for the exchange of Internet content has worked extremely well for over two decades. This transition will not affect the interconnection market or change how the Internet backbone works.”

MUSIC INDUSTRY TURNS UP VOLUME ON COPYRIGHT — Your MT-er, in today’s paper: “As parts of Washington start to examine the country’s tricky song licensing system, the music industry is getting ready to turn its D.C. outreach up to 11. From Hollywood to Nashville to New York, the varied constituencies in the music world — songwriters, recording artists, record labels and music publishers — are starting to launch new public affairs and lobbying campaigns, which come amid continued fights with online radio stations like Pandora. The diverse industry camps have not always been united on what rules need to change to address copyright loopholes, and whether they’re able to send a cohesive message will be a deciding factor as to the effort’s success on Capitol Hill.”

“It can be difficult for copyright issues to gain traction among lawmakers, especially after the 2012 backlash over the Stop Online Piracy Act. But the confluence of three Washington proceedings this year is too big an opportunity for the music industry to pass up ... Nobody sees legislation getting through Congress this year, but music interests say they’re trying to play the long game: raising the profile of several of their pet issues with the hopes that if or when lawmakers actually consider copyright reform legislation — in the next Congress or beyond — they will have music royalties top of mind.” MORE, for Pros: http://politico.pro/1s08wds

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re always happy to hear your thoughts on the tech and telecom news of the day. Let us know what’s getting you out of bed this morning with a note to abyers@politico.com and @ byersalex, and catch the rest of the team’s contact info after speed read.

** A true entrepreneur, SoftBank built a start-up software distribution platform into a global mobile Internet leader and currently has more than 1,300 Internet investments worldwide. With SoftBank, you should always expect the unexpected. Learn why at http://softbankusa.com/. **

ANOTHER DELAY FOR PATENT REFORM? Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy once again has a patent reform markup on the calendar for this Thursday, but several lobbyists are already predicting another delay — perhaps this time for up to two weeks. Advocates on all sides of the issue were expecting to take a peek at a complete package of draft language over the last two days, but there are still no drafts circulating. The reason? According to some sources, reform advocates aren't as taken with some of the changes they saw in recent drafts. Either way, since Leahy's promised to release a draft to the public well in advance of any committee markup, he doesn't have much time to finish up the draft and post it before tomorrow's scheduled meeting.

WALDEN UNVEILS STELA TWEAKS — A new version of Rep. Greg Walden’s STELA reauthorization bill unveiled Wednesday contains two key changes — one to satisfy both broadcasters and parts of the pay TV industry. First, the bill cuts previous language blocking the FCC from acting to prohibit some kinds of broadcaster sharing agreements (since the FCC moved on the issue back in March.) Instead, it would give broadcasters engaged in so-called joint-sales agreements more time to unwind them to come in compliance with new FCC rules. They would have until at least 2016 to unwind those agreements under the Walden bill,or perhaps longer — a change that helps the broadcast industry.

Separately, the changes would clarify that the bill prohibits all joint retransmission consent negotiations by separately-owned broadcasters. A previous version of the bill had offered an exception whereby pay-TV companies could elect to negotiate jointly, but the American Cable Association had pushed for the change. Rep. Anna Eshoo also spoke against the original language back in March, but now, Eshoo said in a statement she supports the new bill. Opening statements for the markup start at 4 p.m. today, with votes tomorrow. Legislation here: http://bit.ly/1nmYxyW

—DOTCOM ACT UP FOR DISCUSSION TOO: On the ICANN side of things at this week’s E&C markup, Democrats are unlikely to be any more interested than they were last month in the DOTCOM Act, which requires a GAO report to be completed before NTIA can go forward with its ICANN relinquishing plan. Republicans, though, seem to be in lockstep and will need no help in clearing the measure from committee. They’ll get even more political cover from outside groups today, as Americans for Tax Reform is sending a letter to committee Republicans with their support for the bill: “Thoughtful consideration of all variables and possibilities, both positive and negative, is not an unreasonable procedure,” Grover Norquist writes about the letter. Link: http://bit.ly/1fNy4dL

ESHOO HOSTING NET NEUTRALITY HANGOUT — The California Democrat and ranker on the House telecom subcommittee is hosting a Google Hangout on FCC boss Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal this evening. WaPo’s Cecilia Kang will moderate, and former FCC commissioner Robert McDowell will participate as well. The online pow-wow, set for 6:30 tonight, will be the latest chance for Washington to hear from a key lawmaker on the controversial net neutrality issue. Eshoo, thus far, has not been a huge fan. “I know that there are many of us that are deeply concerned about what is ‘commercially reasonable’” she told MT last week, adding: “It’s stunning, the number of people I’ve heard from, all the way from my kids that are in their early 40s, saying ‘Mom, what’s happening to the internet?’ And that’s like an echo chamber across my district.” You can watch the event, which also features CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince and professor Barbara van Schewick, here: http://bit.ly/1s0cwdZ

** SoftBank takes pride in its entrepreneurial spirit. We built a start-up software distribution platform into a global mobile Internet leader and currently have more than 1,300 Internet investments worldwide. We have also invested in American companies for more than 20 years. Following SoftBank’s more than $22 billion investment in Sprint, we are looking forward to bringing our competitive and innovative approach to the U.S. wireless market. Our goal is to connect Americans to the full promise of the mobile Internet and to improve people’s lives by bringing faster, more reliable wireless services to the U.S. in an age when access to high-speed mobile connectivity is critical. Those who know SoftBank know to expect the unexpected. Learn why at http://softbankusa.com/. **

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About The Author

Alex Byers is a technology reporter for POLITICO Pro. He was previously a senior Web producer at POLITICO, where he helped run POLITICO's Twitter and Facebook accounts. Before joining the Web team, he graduated from The George Washington University, where he served as the 2009-10 editor-in-chief of The GW Hatchet, the school's award-winning student newspaper.

Previously, he has interned at washingtonpost.com, Dateline NBC and General Mills Inc. He hails from Minneapolis and is an avid Twins fan, musician and golfer.